Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Teng Kee Tuan Author-Name: Yen Siew Hwa Author-Name: Chua Soo Yean Title: Synchronisation of Stock Market Cycles: The Importance of Emerging and Developed Markets to ASEAN-5 Abstract: This study analyses the directions and the degree of financial integration of ASEAN-5 with the PRC, India, the U.S. and Japan. A non-parametric approach has been used to study the crosscountry correlations based on Concordance Index (CI) and Rolling Concordance Index (RCI). Monthly stock market indices between January 1991 and June 2010 for all the countries involved were analysed. The CI results indicate higher financial interdependence of ASEAN-5 with the U.S. and Japan compared to the PRC and India. The stock markets RCIs amongst ASEAN-5 with the emerging and developed economies depict a rising financial integration amongst these nations. Financial integration amongst ASEAN-5 stock markets with the PRC has gradually increased but is still relatively lower compared to the financial integration with India, the U.S. and Japan. Thus, the financial portfolio diversification of ASEAN-5 to the PRC is recommended, especially if the financial crisis originates from the ASEAN region. Keywords: financial integration, ASEAN-5, emerging economies, developed economies, stock market indices, Concordance Index, Rolling Concordance Index Classification-JEL: F15, F36 Pages: 435-458 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=461.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/461 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:461:p:435-458 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/461 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lenka Hudrliková Title: Composite Indicators as a Useful Tool for International Comparison: The Europe 2020 Example Abstract: Composite indicators as a tool for a ranking become more and more popular, because they illustrate a comprehensive view on a phenomenon that cannot be captured by only one single indicator. Indicators for Europe 2020 are set of indicators used for monitoring targets defined by the European Commission in the Strategy of Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Growth. The main objective of this paper is the comparison of performance of the EU Member States using the composite indicator principles. Within constructing composite indicators several steps have to be made and corresponding methods have to be chosen. There is not only one correct method how to develop a composite indicator. Of course, the choice of the methods manipulates the results. Primarily, normalisation methods, weighting schemes and aggregation formulas are fundamental but very subjective. This paper deals with two types of normalisation (z-score and min-max) and four weighting and aggregation schemes (equal weighting with linear aggregation, principal components analysis, benefit of doubt method and multi-criteria analysis). European countries ranking is provided according to the seven different scenarios. Keywords: international comparison, principal component analysis, composite indicator, the Europe 2020 indicators, benefit of doubt analysis, multi-criteria analysis Classification-JEL: C38, C43, C61, O1 Pages: 459-473 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=462.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/462 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:462:p:459-473 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/462 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Pu-yan Nie Title: Innovation Under Spatial Duopoly Abstract: Innovation is an important topic in economics. This paper highlights duopoly innovation under the Hotelling model with game theory approaches. This paper argues that market power, as measured by the cost advantage of a dominant firm over its rival, serves to enhance the incentive to innovate in a Hotelling model of spatial competition. This result implies that a firm with cost advantage will have a larger incentive than its rivals to further its cost advantage as new opportunities for innovation arise thereby implying that innovation increases concentration. This result is in contrast to the result obtained by Holmes et al. (2012) who use the Betrand model to show that "market power" lowers the incentive to innovate. We think that the inelastic demand causes this economic phenomenon. Keywords: game theory, innovation, spatial duopoly, case study Classification-JEL: C61, C72, D4, L1 Pages: 474-486 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=463.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/463 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:463:p:474-486 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/463 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Robert Stojanov Author-Name: Wadim Strielkowski Title: The Role of Remittances as More Efficient Tool of Development Aid in Developing Countries Abstract: This paper examines the effectiveness of remittances and official development assistance (ODA) in developing countries. It compares the outcomes of aid poured into the economies of the Third World for decades without any visible effect and remittances transferred by emigrants to their countries of origin which proved to be quite effective. We find that remittances have a stronger net positive effect on the increase of GDP per capita in developing economies than development aid. In addition, remittances tend to be higher than ODA funds, they are absorbed by 80-90 per cent (in comparison with 50 per cent of aid budgets spent on administrative and other costs) and do not hinge on institutional quality. The paper advocates the importance of remittances over ODA and supports the wide usage of coherent development policies executed by the developed Western economies with an aim to enhance transparent and efficient remittance transfers as one of the best methods to promote development in less-developed countries (e.g. economies in Africa, Asia or Latin America). Keywords: developing countries, international migration, official development aid, remittances Classification-JEL: F22, F24, J61, O55, P45 Pages: 487-503 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=464.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/464 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:464:p:487-503 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/464 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ilya Bolotov Author-Name: Radek Čajka Author-Name: Kateřina Gajdušková Title: The Economic Balance of the Czech Republic and Slovakia During the Economic Crisis Abstract: The paper examines development of economic balance and efficiency of monetary and fiscal policy in the Czech Republic and Slovakia during the crisis with the help of empirical verification of Robert Mundell´s model of effective market classifi cation. Our main findings show that although there was no direct ´loser´ during the crisis, the Czech Republic seemed to have better coped with its economic imbalances due to the independence of its monetary policy. Slovakia, on the contrary, has preserved several problems on the side of external balance. However, as both countries show certain differences, it is impossible to assess whether the euro adoption had the same effect on both of them. In general, the paper contributes to the research on the Czech and Slovak economy and euro area membership. Keywords: external balance, cointegration analysis, internal balance, economic crisis, effective market classification model, error correction model Classification-JEL: C22, E30, E63, F41 Pages: 504-523 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=465.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/465 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:465:p:504-523 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/465 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jana Votápková Author-Name: Lenka Šťastná Title: Efficiency of Hospitals in the Czech Republic Abstract: The paper estimates cost efficiency of 99 general hospitals in the Czech Republic during 2001-2008 using the Stochastic Frontier Analysis. We control for determinants of the inefficiency and found that bigger, not-for-profit and teaching hospitals tend to be less efficient, as well as hospitals in municipalities with a larger share of the elderly. Small hospitals, hospitals in bigger municipalities and hospitals in regions where hospital competition is tense tend to be more efficient. Keywords: efficiency, hospitals, stochastic frontier analysis Classification-JEL: D24, I11 Pages: 524-541 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=466.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/466 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:466:p:524-541 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/466 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Katarína Svítková Title: Certification and Its Impact on Quality of Charities Abstract: Nonprofit organizations in transition countries experience low trust and consequently low income from donations. The study introduces one particular solution to the problem, ¨ certification, and examines its impact on the quality of the nonprofit organizations in the market. The situation is illustrated in a game theoretical model, with a manager, donor, certifier, and the charity providing a charitable good: for simplicity, charity is either good or bad: A good charity spends all the resources on the charitable good, and a bad one diverts all resources to the private consumption of its manager (for-profit in disguise). We show that for a wide parameter range and for two different disclosure rules, the presence of a certifier in the market increases the incentives for managers to choose good charities, leading to an improvement in the market as the share of good charities increases. Keywords: quality assurance, certification, fundraising, non-profit organizations Classification-JEL: D71, D82, L15, L31 Pages: 542-557 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=467.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/467 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:467:p:542-557 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/467 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lubomír Cingl Title: Does Herd Behaviour Arise Easier Under Time Pressure? Experimental Approach Abstract: In this paper I explain individual propensity to herding behaviour and its relationship to time-pressure by conducting a laboratory experiment. I let subjects perform a simple cognitive task with the possibility to herd under different levels of time pressure. In the main treatments, subjects had a chance to revise their decision after seeing decisions of others, which I take as an indicator of herding behaviour. The main findings are that the propensity to herd was not significantly influenced by different levels of time pressure, although there could be an indirect effect through other variables, such as the time subjects spent revising the decision. Heart-rate significantly increased over the baseline during the performance of a task and its correlation to the subjectively stated level of stress was positive but very weak, which suggests that time pressure may not automatically induce stress but increase effort instead. Keywords: experimental economics, herding, heart rate measurement, personality traits Classification-JEL: C25, C91, D03, D80 Pages: 558-582 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=468.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/468 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:468:p:558-582 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/468 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Luboš Komárek Title: Central Banking Textbook Keywords: - Pages: 583-585 Volume: 2013 Issue: 4 Year: 2013 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/download.php?jnl=pep&pdf=469.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/pep/469 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlpep:v:2013:y:2013:i:4:id:469:p:583-585 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlpep/references/469